Beth Anne is an accomplished community builder, collaborating with diverse stakeholder groups to create environments that connect people and support local growth. She has served communities throughout Northern New Jersey for almost 20 years including as Executive Director of the Springfield Avenue Partnership in Maplewood, NJ and the Downtown Somerville Alliance in Somerville, NJ.
Amongst her most notable accomplishments, in 2007, she spearheaded a pilot program with international home furnishings retailer IKEA to offer small business services featuring makeovers of several Springfield Avenue district businesses. In 2012, Division Street located in the center of the Downtown Somerville improvement district, was reimagined as a public plaza to great success under her stewardship and has been a featured case-study in several regional publications and was included at CNU23 in a pedestrian mall session where Ms. Macdonald spoke in depth about the public engagement process at the heart of the transformation. In 2013, Division Street received the Platinum Award for Excellence for “Built Projects” by Downtown New Jersey and in 2016, Beth Anne led the efforts to garner a “Great Downtown” designation from the New Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association for Downtown Somerville.
An active member of the International Downtown Association, she is a graduate of the inaugural cohort of the 2016 Emerging Leader Fellowship program, a week-long experiential program that brings together IDA professionals to learn essential leadership and place management skills.
Ms. Macdonald is currently the Director of Community Planning & Development for Commercial District Services, a boutique management firm specializing in BID and public space management for communities across Northern New Jersey.